A Focus

May 22nd, 2019Older adults who regularly take part in word and number puzzles have sharper brains, according to the largest online study to date. The more regularly adults aged 50 and over played puzzles such as crosswords and Sudoku, the better their brain...

May 22nd, 2019Intermittent fasting has been around since Pythagoras but has now reached new heights of popularity because of extravagant claims by the likes of Dr Jason Fung, a Canadian nephrologist, and self-labelled ‘world expert’ on IF, writes...

May 15th, 2019Novice marathoners experienced a four-year reduction in arterial age and a 4 mmHg drop in systolic blood pressure.s, found a study on London Marathon participants. Older and slower runners benefited the most.
The research was presented at...

May 15th, 2019Hundreds of thousands of older people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease are probably suffering from a different disease, which is why drugs trials keep failing, scientists have concluded. The Daily Telegraph reports that experts, who hailed the...

May 15th, 2019An Ethiopian asylum seeker who was after three months of treatment denied dialysis at Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg because she lacks the "appropriate" documentation, has again placed the policies of the SA Department of Health of...

May 8th, 2019
There has been widespread condemnation of the International Association of Athletics FederationS ordering the control of natural testosterone levels in female athletes in some events. But, writing in Quilette, Duke's Prof Doriane Coleman,...

May 8th, 2019Work stress and impaired sleep are linked to a threefold higher risk of cardiovascular death in employees with hypertension, found a German study with an 18-year followup. Work stress alone had a 1.6-fold higher risk while only poor sleep had a...

May 1st, 2019
The SA Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has "noted with significant concern" a High Court judgment that upheld the sentence of of five years direct imprisonment for Dr Danie van der Walt, a gynaecologist who caused the death of a...

May 1st, 2019Treatments that prevent recurrence of types of stroke and dementia caused by damage to small blood vessels in the brain have moved a step closer, following a small UK study of two existing drugs used to treat other conditions.
The drugs –...

May 1st, 2019A "breakthrough" slimming pill that expands in the stomach was twice as successful as a placebo, according to research presented at the European Congress on Obesity. Of those taking the drug, already given regulatory approval in the US, 59%...

April 24th, 2019
The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has confirmed the conviction and sentence of five years direct imprisonment for Dr Danie van der Walt, a gynaecologist who caused the death of a woman in labour through negligence. The Health Professions Council...

April 24th, 2019The misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) was almost 20% in a US study, which found that of the people misdiagnosed, many received MS treatment for four years before receiving the right diagnosis.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a widespread...

April 24th, 2019Malawi will begin immunising young children against malaria this week, in a landmark large-scale pilot programme of the first vaccine to give partial protection against the disease, the World Health Organisation said.
Although the vaccine...

April 17th, 2019Researchers found significant drops in blood pressure, improvements in large-artery function, and improved performance on certain cognitive and memory tests, by subject who performed Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training, which involves breathing...

April 17th, 2019Adequate intake of certain nutrients is associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality when the nutrient source is foods, but not supplements, according to a study. There was no association between dietary supplement use and a lower risk of...

April 17th, 2019Experts have warned a more tailored approach is needed to the prescribing of statins, following a study suggesting they are ineffective at lowering cholesterol to target levels in more than half of patients.
The research by primary care experts...

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